LONDON – Britain’s economy shrank by a record 9.9% last year on the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, despite managing growth during the second half, official data showed today.
“Over the year 2020 as a whole, GDP contracted by 9.9%, marking the largest annual fall in UK gross domestic product (GDP) on record,” the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.
However, GDP grew 1.0% in the fourth quarter (Q4) or three months to December, after an upwardly revised expansion of 16% in Q3.
The ONS added that the economy grew 1.2% in December and cited the impact of looser virus restrictions in parts of the country.
That move had sparked hope that Britain could potentially avoid a much-feared double-dip recession, regardless of the new strict lockdown that has now been in place since the start of January.
“Loosening of restrictions in many parts of the UK saw elements of the economy recover some lost ground in December, with hospitality, car sales and hairdressers all seeing growth,” said ONS deputy national statistician for economic statistics Jonathan Athow, adding that virus testing-and-tracing also boosted output.
“The economy continued to grow in Q4 as a whole, despite the additional restrictions in November,” he noted.
“However, GDP for the year fell by nearly 10%, more than twice as much as the previous largest annual fall on record.”
Despite two successive quarters of growth in the second half of last year, the economy remains 7.8% smaller than before the virus-induced recession in the first half.
Much of the UK re-entered lockdown in early January to curb a variant Covid-19 strain that was deemed more transmissible, with restrictions similar to initial curbs imposed in late March last year. – AFP, February 12, 2021
